


Morning Joe and Sleepy Thoughts

by morethanmending



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Family Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 17:13:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7627030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morethanmending/pseuds/morethanmending
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post ST: Beyond.  While the <i>Enterprise</i> is in dry dock for repairs, Ben and Hikaru take their daughter home for a little R&R.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Morning Joe and Sleepy Thoughts

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt: "lush greenery made even more vibrant by rain".

\---

It had been raining nearly nonstop since they'd returned home. Everything was soggy and damp and the overgrown grass glowed in the watery grey morning light. 

Ben wandered through the little house, robe loose on his shoulders and coffee mug in hand. They hadn't been home in months and while the house had fared well through the spring and summer he could see little places that would need attention before they were called back to Yorktown. There was the _drip-drip-drip_ of a leaky faucet in the downstairs bathroom, the small crack that had appeared above the kitchen doorway, the ominous creak of the third step off the second story landing.

Although, Ben thought with a rueful smile as he rubbed a hand over his belly, that creak may have more to do with him than anything structural.

He took a sip of his coffee and continued his walk.

The sound of the rain was louder in the living room. The windows were cracked an inch or two and a cool breeze shivered between the curtains. Ben's bare toes curled against the hardwood and he wondered if they'd need to lay down a rug to keep the chill at bay during the winter months.

He wondered if they'd even be here for the winter. He hoped they would, hoped they'd at least be here for the season's first snow. Demora had never seen snow before. 

It didn't snow in Yorktown. It didn't snow or rain or change temperature beyond a few degrees on this or that side of comfortable. He missed a lot of things when it came to living on a space station, but Ben thought he missed weather the most. He missed the gentle feel of a light drizzle on his face, the crisp taste of icy cold air on his tongue, the crunch of dead leaves and frost under his boots. He missed it.

Of course, what Yorktown didn't have in the way of gentle precipitation they made up for with their lack of tornadoes and hurricanes and blizzards, so… it was give and take.

Ben lifted his cup to his mouth once more and found it empty. Frowning, he turned back towards the kitchen.

And found the front door wide open.

The screen door was slightly ajar, and with every gust it tapped against the frame, _tap-tap-tap_ , loose on its hinges. Another item for the repair list.

Soft voices floated on the breeze, and Ben set his mug down on the dry sink as he shuffled towards the door, pulling his robe tighter across his chest.

Glancing past the screen, he spotted Hikaru and Demora. They were sitting together on the swing Ben had built last fall. Demora was curled on Hikaru's lap and there was a blanket pulled over the two of them. Hikaru's socked feet were braced against the porch and he slowly rocked them back and forth, back and forth.

Demora leaned against Hikaru's chest, dark hair as unruly as Hikaru's own, and together they stared out at the rain. "Is it like this everywhere?" she asked.

"No," Hikaru answered, lowering his chin to rest on her forehead. Rain dripped from the eaves and trickled out of the downspouts on either side of the porch. Bright green weeds crawled over the porch steps, threatening to swallow them entirely. "Some planets have more water. Some have less. Some have none at all."

Demora wrinkled her nose and shifted beneath the blanket. "What do they have, then?"

"Ammonia," Hikaru answered, eyes sliding closed, sleepy. "Methane. Nitrogen."

Demora considered his words. "Can you swim in any of those?"

The corner of Hikaru's mouth curved upward and Ben could hear the gentle amusement in his voice. "Not easily," he said.

Demora sighed and wiggled again, settling more comfortably against her father's chest. "That doesn't sound nice."

"It's not particularly. But there are a lot of places out there that are."

Demora eyed a growing puddle in the middle of the yard, watched the trembling ripples as drop after drop broke the surface. "This place is nice."

Hikaru hummed his agreement.

"We should stay," Demora said. "I like it here."

Hikaru opened his eyes and Ben watched as he looked around, took in the yard that would need cutting and the gravel path that would need tending and the mailbox with two of its numbers missing.

He nodded. "I like it here too."

Ben slipped away from the door, quiet as he came. He picked up his mug on the way to the kitchen.

Their lives were scattered among the stars now, Hikaru on his ship and he and Demora waiting on Yorktown for Hikaru to return to them, again and again and again. But it was nice, Ben thought as he put on a kettle of water to boil, that as comfortable as they all were out there, _this_ was home. This would always be home. Cracks and drips and weeds and all.

Ben smiled. It was a nice thought to begin the day with.

\---

End.


End file.
